As Long As The Day Is Full of Time
by go-sullivan
Summary: <html><head></head>Most people wish they could time travel, but Emily Fields is not most people. She has no control over where and when she shows up, but more and more she finds herself meeting Paige McCullers time and time again. Paily set to the Time Traveler's Wife.</html>
1. The First Time Emily Meets Paige

**Hello all. So this is of course a Time Traveler's Wife AU for Paily that nobody knew they needed. Except for ginjoints over at tumblr. So note sorry for the dates. I just had to make them up. Also I'm so not used to writing first person and present tense so apologies for the mistakes. Huge thanks to Lu for reading over this. Let me know what you guys think. **

**I don't own PLL or The Time Traveler's Wife. **

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><p>First Day of Class, Sep 4, 2008 Freshman Year (Emily and Paige are 14)<p>

_PAIGE:_ We have never been formally introduced. Which is weird to think of because I know her. A lot about her. The way the corners of her mouth upturn when she smiles at something I've given her like a tumbler of lukewarm coffee or a peanut butter and banana sandwich. The way her laugh sounds when I tell her a lame joke. And there's the way her eyes shine in a way I don't understand yet, but I know some day I will.

Emily has been there for me. She would help me with my spelling words and my swimming form when I had trouble with my times. She was a source of reassurance and calm.

But that Emily has always been older than me. More experienced. And it's funny to know that while we both live in the same town, we've hardly exchanged more than a few words with each other. Me and the Emily that's my age, I mean. We didn't attend the same elementary school, and I wasn't in Rosewood for middle school. So there was never a chance to meet her, meet her before now.

She gave me a warning though. That I was going to have to be patient with her younger self. To which I laughed. Emily was nothing but patient and caring with me over the years. Her teenage self had to be not much different. But she insisted that she had been the worst when she was in high school. But that worser still was Alison DiLaurentis.

The name didn't mean anything to me. But all the same, Emily disappeared last night in the middle of her pleading with me to be patient. And to be strong.

I pull on the strap of my backpack. That's easier said than done when I'm so nervous about meeting her when we're the same age. More or less. She is a few months older than me. There's a few upperclassmen seemingly falling into where they last left off when school let out before the summer. I don't really pay them much attention. I'm supposed to be meeting Pru, but I always show up earlier than the agreed upon time and she always shows up late.

But apparently Emily Fields always shows up right on time.

And she is just as beautiful as the Emily I know. My stomach tumbles in a good way. It's the way I always feel when I see her, like my entire body is wrapped in a warm embrace and I feel so safe.

I start walking towards her. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to say. Every time Emily and I meet, it just picks up where we left off as if there was no time in between. That's when I realize my mistake. For this Emily, there is no last time. For her, it's the first time.

I should have planned this better. It's too weird to tell someone who you're a stranger to, "Hello, I've known you my whole life even though we just met."

That came off as completely insane or as a way too pushy and forward pick-up line. I scrunched my face up.

I decide just to say hello to her for now. Can't go wrong with hello. She can pass it off as freshman solidarity. They are all in this together after all.

And besides Emily isn't alone. She's with a blonde girl. Who sees me before Emily does.

The girl gives me a friendly smile. It's a little bit nervous, but still friendly and hopeful. It's a smile that I know all too well. Someone who wants to please people and fit in. Which I get. The girl is a little on the heavy side, so she has to be friendly making it the first thing people will think of instead of the extra weight she carries.

It's a good plan. It's similar to mine. Be nice to people and be good at swimming. That's what she wanted people to know her for. As a great swimmer. And not for something else.

Emily turned around then to see who her friend was looking at. I was a little thrown by the look of zero recognition on her face. But still she gave me a smile in acknowledgement. It was a polite smile, if a little uncertain, and nothing more.

"Paige!" A hand was being waved in front of her face. "I thought we were meeting by the bike rack. Make me walk all the way over there and you're not even there."

"It's like right over there, Pru. Don't act like you had to take two different buses to find me."

"Hey. Be where you said you were going to be." Pru scowled, but then we both burst out into laughter.

"Always am where I am." I look back to where Emily is standing. She and her friend are heading into the building.

I start to do the same, when someone runs into me and Pru.

"Excuse you!" I call to the girl that just bumped into us with no apology.

She turns around. This girl is also blonde, but unlike Emily's friend she just smirks back at me, like I'm something beneath her. She is also being followed by a girl, who I recognize as Spencer Hastings. Spencer seems hesitant, like she wants to apologize on the blonde's behalf, but then her body mirrors the other girl's and gives me a sneer.

I briefly wondered what happened to her while I was gone.

"Just let it go, Paige." Pru has a hand on my shoulder.

"But-"

"Really, it's not worth it. That's Alison DiLaurentis."

This is the girl Emily warned me about? She doesn't look so tough. Emily made her sound like some kind of Big Bad, the Evil Queen from every fairy tale. Lord Voldemort.

"Paige, I'm serious. Don't. I know how you have this thing about being the hero. But not this time." Pru shakes her head.

"Okay. For you, I won't say anything. But if she does something to you, or anyone else, I don't think is right then I won't stay quiet." I don't like bullies. People should stand up to them.

Pru looks like she's about to argue with me, but she stops. She knows me too well. She knows that I won't back down from this. "Let's just go inside. You owe me a coffee based beverage."

"What? Since when?"

"Since you were late to meeting me this morning." Pru grabs my hand and drags me up the steps of Rosewood High.

"Fine." I grumble.

_EMILY:_ I go with Hanna to her locker. Hers is a few down from my own. She wants me there in case she has trouble with her locker combination. I know her combination, and she knows mine. Even though it's against the rules, since you're not supposed to share your locker combination with anybody else. But Hanna isn't just anybody else. She's my best friend.

One of four. Hanna and I are supposed to meet the other girls before classes start. We've already memorized each others schedules. We have some classes together but not all of them. But that's okay since we'll be seeing each other at lunch.

"Do you know her?" Hanna asks me while she fiddles with her lock.

"Know who?" I frown. I'm searching the hallways for any signs of Alison.

"The girl that smiled at us. Well, actually I think she was just smiling at you." Hanna pulls her locker open and claps her hands in delight.

"Oh. No. I don't think so." I think about the girl Hanna is talking about. She had reddish brown hair and big brown eyes that were playful and friendly. I don't think I've seen her before. I would have remembered.

Unless I met her on one of my trips. Or meet her.

"Maybe you should." Hanna starts to hang something in her locker. It's a picture of the five of us. It's a cute photo. But I realize I'm not looking at the camera. But instead I'm looking at Alison. I hope it isn't obvious, but maybe it is if that's what Hanna is getting at.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just think that the girl is nice. It doesn't hurt to know more people, right?"

"I guess so." I realize I sound more than a little defensive. I don't want to call attention to it. These feelings I'm having. They're scary and I don't know what they mean. Right now I know how I feel about Alison. The other me doesn't give too many answers. She just smiles at me sadly when I bring it up.

"Hanna! Emily! Hey!" One of our other friends, Aria, is waving at us. She turns to say good-bye to her mom. Mrs. Montgomery is an English teacher. We'll have her next year. I give her a polite wave, and she smiles at Hanna and me before she goes into her classroom.

"Hey, Aria! I like your hair." Hanna offers.

Aria has pink streaks in her hair. It suits her. Her fashion sense has always been out there, but it works. Like her personality is too big for her tiny body that it gets expressed in crazy pattern prints and art jewelry pieces. She is bold in a way that I wish I could be. She doesn't care what other people think of her.

"Me too. But my mom would kill me if I even thought about doing that."

"Maybe. It's not like it's permanent." Aria smiles. "But what I really wanted to show you is this." She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a chunky camera.

"A camera?" Hanna asks, biting her lip.

"Yeah. It's digital. My parents got it for me. I want to take a picture of all of us on the first day of high school. And then we can take another one on the last day."

"That's a great idea. Let's wait for Ali and Spence." I smile at the shorter girl.

"Lucky for you, you don't have to wait too long." Spencer appears and crosses her arms.

"Where's Ali?" I ask, hoping I don't sound too eager.

"She wants to make an entrance." Spencer sounds irritated but looks towards the other end of the hallway.

Alison walks in at that moment. If time travel is possible, then it must be possible for time to slow down too. She enters and heads turn. It's all eyes on her. She smirks at some girl whose boyfriend is obviously checking her out. The girl smacks her boyfriend on the chest. I can't blame the guy. Alison looks stunning. She stops in front of us.

"Hey, girls." Alison smirks.

"Wow, Alison. I think you got everyone talking about you." Hanna beams.

"That's the idea, isn't it? Though I'm sure you know all about people talking about you." Alison looks down at Hanna's tummy.

"Alison," Aria starts.

"What? I was about to offer my services to Hanna on how to dress in way that is slimming." Alison shrugs.

"Thanks, Alison." Hanna nods with enthusiasm.

Alison says things like that, but she doesn't really mean them. She really is helpful when it comes to boys and clothes. She wouldn't steer any of us wrong.

But I still feel kind of bad for Hanna. "Maybe we should get to class."

"In a second. First, we have to take our group picture." Aria presents her camera with a flourish.

We all scrunch in close together and Aria holds the camera out in front of her. We gather around to look at the picture she took.

"I think we look cute." Aria states hesitantly. It doesn't really convince anyone, the more we look at the picture.

Aria is in front. She looks good. I'm next to her. I wouldn't say I look bad, but I look kinda drunk. But then again, Alison was leaning against me. That's probably why part of her face is covered by my head. The same thing happens with Spencer, with Ali's face head covering her. Most of Hanna's body makes it into the photo, which is probably why she's frowning now.

"Maybe Emily should take the photo. She's got long arms." I look at Alison. She sighs and continues. "That's why you're so good at swimming."

I smile so hard at her I think my face is going to crack. I was on the swim team in middle school. I plan on joining again in high school. The other me insists on me joining, only hinting that I'm going to met someone special. Even if that wasn't going to happen, I was going to join. I really enjoy swimming. I always have. Ever since my first swim lesson where my teacher told me I was a natural. Ever since then I loved being in the water.

"Hi. Could you take a picture of us?" Aria is holding her camera out to someone. It's the girl who smiled at me and Hanna earlier. She's with another girl, Pru I think her name is. We had some classes together in middle school, but we really didn't talk.

"Um, sure." The girl takes the camera and I take the time to study her.

I was right about her eyes being playful, like she knows a secret. But one she's having a hard time not blurting out since it's such good news that she has to share it. She looks at me like she's about to tell me I won free concert tickets. Or that I made it to the Olympics.

"Okay. Just press this button and look here." Aria gives a brief explanation.

Alison is glaring at this girl. I don't know why. She's being nice and doing us a favor. She didn't have to take our picture.

"Alright. One, two, three. Smile!"

I feel Alison put her arm around my waist. My heart flutters. But I end up laughing.

"Uh, I'll just take one more." The girl's voice falters a bit. She snaps off another photo and hands the camera back to Aria.

"These are great." Aria checks out the photos. "Thanks, um?"

"Paige. McCullers."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aria." She says and then she introduces each of us. "This is Hanna. Emily. Alison, and-"

"Spencer Hastings. We've met." Spencer looks at the girl cooly. She has such a competitive streak and I wonder how the two know each other.

"So we have." Paige doesn't back down. "This is Pru."

The warning bell rings.

"Thanks for taking our picture, Paige. I'll see you around?" I don't know what makes me say that. But I'm glad I did because it makes her laugh.

"Yes you will." Paige flashes a confident grin.

"You can go now." Alison dismisses her.

"It was nice meeting you all. Most of you anyway." Paige cocked her head to the side and flashed an amused half smile.

This has to be the first time I've met her. It's hard to forget someone like Paige.


	2. The First Time Emily Time Travels

Author's Note: Hey guys. I'm so glad with the response to this fic. I got another little bit out for you guys, so I tried to edit this as well as I could and then get this out. And sorry if the dates are weird. I pull them out of my butt. Much like the writers do for the show. It's a crazy time line

I don't own PLL or The Time Traveler's Wife.

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><p><strong>The First Time Emily Time Travels<strong>

June 21, 1998

EMILY: I can remember being really excited that day. My dad had just come back from some training in Texas. I was going to start school soon, so he said we were going to spend as much time together as possible. One of the trips he had planned was to go up to The Lake. I was looking forward to it. There was a campground out there, and we would put up a tent. I loved it. My dad and mom and me in sleeping bags, making s'mores at night and telling stories around the campfire after a day of walking in the woods. My dad would point the trees out to me and tell me what they were called. He told me that sometimes you could find plants that were safe to eat and that one day he would teach me which ones they were. My mom would help my dad with the fish we caught and we would have it for dinner.

And I loved the Lake. I loved playing in the water. My dad had taught me to swim the summer before. I could stay in the water until my fingers got wrinkly like raisins. It was so much fun.

But we didn't go to the lake the next day or even that weekend. I had to wait until July! I didn't think I could wait that long.

Not only did I have to wait for our trip to the lake, but my mom wanted me to take swimming lessons. Even though I knew how to swim. But my mom said it was because I had to be around other kids my age.

My dad was taking me to swimming lessons tomorrow. It was so I wouldn't be nervous. He would be right there watching me and cheering for me. I told him it was just lessons and he said he would always cheer me on, even if I was brushing my teeth. I told him he was silly.

But I was still scared. I didn't know anyone else. What if the teacher was mean? What if the other kids were? I didn't want to be at the pool. I wanted to be at the Lake.

September 9, 2004

(Emily is 24 and 5)

EMILY: I pitch forward unto my hands and knees. Instead of the soft carpet of our apartment underneath me, it's dead leaves and wet earth. My head is spinning and I'm sure it from the drinks I had at Pru's more than the time travel, but that doesn't help things. I wonder where the hell I am. And of course, when I am. I chuckle to myself. It's a joke that Paige likes to tell me every time I disappear and come back. When did you go this time?

All jokes aside, it sucks to end up in the woods not knowing what date it is. If I'm supposed to be meeting Paige or another version of myself. Not knowing what the date is only second to showing up after I've traveled completely naked. That part sucks the most.

I look around and lucky for me I see a familiar site. The McCullers family cabin. So at least I know where I am. It solves one of my problems. It doesn't solve when I am aside from night time and I'm still pretty naked.

I walk towards the cabin, taking a huge risk. It could be that I've arrived at a time where Paige is younger and her parents would freak out about me showing up. Or I could have arrived at a time after everything.

There is no car parked out front. I hope that means that no one is staying there, but it doesn't necessarily mean that. I creep towards a window in the back, careful not to make a sound. I peer through and don't catch sight of anyone. If this were a time where I was to meet Paige, she would have already found me. I already gave her all the dates where we meet at the Lake. And this isn't the first time Paige will be meeting me. She told me that happens when she's five and about to start swim lessons.

Since no one is home, I go around to the front. I take the key out from where it's usually kept. Paige told me where it was in case I ever end up at the cabin and she's not around. I guess it's happened before. I unlock the door and head inside.

The place is fairly clean, like it's been recently used. The cabin isn't too far from Rosewood, but it's not close either. Spencer's family's cabin is along the same lakeshore. And so is the campsite we used to go to during the summers.

I go look for clothes. Another stroke of luck. There are clothes set out for me in Paige's room. And a newspaper. I know that it can't possibly be today's issue or maybe not even from the day before. But at least, I'll know the year.

_August 30, 2004_

Well, that explains why no one is up at the cabin. School's already started by now. 2004. We're both eleven years old. Before either of us go through all that pain and hurt.

I look at the clothes now. It's just jeans, a worn flannel button up and a purple pullover hoodie. I know that Paige picked it out for me with great care. Purple is my favorite color.

And I know why. Because the first time I time traveled I got this hoodie from an older lady. I smile sadly. This is the first time. I'm supposed to meet myself.

Where was I when I saw me? I close my eyes and think. The path by the campsite that goes down to the shore. Where there's a pier and a small raft in the lake that you could swim out to. I don't know how long I have to wait. I remember the sun coming up, and someone silhouetted against the sun by the rock my dad would use as a marker in the path. It's still dark out so I have some time.

I look through the pantry for anything we can eat. It's mostly canned food. There's the can of tuna and the box of Ritz crackers I remember being given. They're still good, and a packet of M&M's.

I find a pair of old sneakers, ones that are too big for me. I had to go barefoot the first time around, but we didn't do much walking. We talked on the pier mostly, but I got a piggyback ride there. Well, I guess it's my turn to do the carrying.

And my turn to do the waiting. The hoodie and the food is tucked away in a brown paper bag. I also remembered to grab a picnic blanket. It reminds me of the one Paige used for our first date. It's funny because she told me it's a move she stole from me which I actually stole from our first date. Maybe it's not so funny as it is migraine inducing.

I don't have to wait long. I've already helped myself to three crackers when I hear a thud and a whimper. I stand up careful not to trip in the sneakers I've tried my best to tie tightly. "Hello, Emily."

She doesn't say anything to me, but darts behind a tree. A lesson in not talking to strangers passed down from my parents. "It's okay, Emily. I'm here to help. Think of me as your mentor… Um, teacher. Don't be scared."

The early morning chill makes her shiver, or it's the strange situation. I don't remember which. "I have something for you. Here you go. Do you like purple?"

She peeks out from behind the tree and nods. She hasn't said a word to me, but she's found a way around the "Don't talk to strangers" rule. Talking is words. Body language should be okay. I remember not wanting to be rude, but also scared. Pam Fields making sure her daughter is nothing but polite, even when she shows up in a strange place talking to a random lady.

I toss the hoodie to her and she barely catches it. She disappears briefly, but steps out again. I can't help but chuckle at the sight. It's not the worst thing I'm ever forced to wear. The hoodie falls past her knees and the sleeves are far too long and drag on the ground. The hood is up and it hides her face. But I can hear her giggle as well.

"Let me help you." I roll up the sleeves and push back the hood. "There you are. Glad to meet you, Emily. Thank you for coming."

"Where am I? Where's my mommy and daddy? Who are you?"

"Well, you were so excited to go to The Lake, so that's where you are. Your parents are safe. They don't know you're gone yet. My name is also Emily. Awesome, right? It's a pretty cool name." I smile at her. Her hair is down, much like mine is. It almost is like staring in a mirror, or more like at an old photograph.

She smiles back at me.

"I know how much you wanted to come to The Lake so you could go swimming. But I'm afraid you're still going to have to wait." I say gently.

"That's okay. I wanted my daddy to be here with me." Little Emily frowns.

"Don't worry. You're going to have a lot of fun with your Dad and Mom before school starts." I nod.

"How do you know?"

"Because I do. How about we talk a walk down to the pier? You can't swim. But you can get your feet wet."

"I have no shoes." Her brows furrow in confusion.

"Well, that is a problem. And I may just have a solution, if you're up for it?" I watch her as she thinks about it.

"Okay." She consents.

"So I'm going to carry you there. It's not too far."

"I'm not a baby." She pouts. I've always get annoyed when people try me as some defenseless little lamb. Even when I was pretty much the size of one.

"No. Of course not. It's just that. Like you said you have no shoes and the path has dirt and probably tiny rocks. I don't want you to step on anything and get hurt. So my plan is not to carry you like a baby, but free piggyback ride."

She nods. I walk towards her and crouch down. "Hop on up."

She does. I make sure she won't fall. I know she won't. Because I didn't. The brown paper bag is still in my hand and I tighten my grip on it. We head off.

"So how do you know?" She asks. Even though her head is close to my ear, her voice is soft. I appreciate it.

"Know what?"

"That I'm going to have fun with my daddy and mommy before school."

"The same way I know everything."

"No one knows everything."

I remember being told I was quiet for a child. I'm starting to think this was not the case. "Okay. I don't know everything. But I know enough. And you have to promise not to tell anyone because it's a secret."

"Why not?"

I bite my lip. This is going to be the first of many secrets I'll have to keep. I can never tell my past selves anything, just like my future selves never tell me anything. And as if time travel isn't crazy enough, I have to deal with all of Alison's secrets biting me in the ass and getting blackmailed by A.

"Because no one will believe you." I have to wonder if this is part of why I never tell my parents about what A did to us. I know that I didn't want to add to their burden of having to take care of me and my condition.

"My mommy and daddy will believe me."

"You can tell your mommy and daddy. But they will need some time to understand." That's pretty much what happened when I came out to them. My mom needed more time than my dad, but they both support me. "You'll know who to trust with this later on. But for now do you promise to only tell your parents?"

She holds up her hand and points up her pinky. "I pinky promise."

I grinned and let my own pinky seal the deal. "I can time travel. And so can you. That's why you're here. You were so excited to go swimming at the Lake, that you couldn't wait and you popped up here."

Emily is silent and trying to process what I just told her. "But how come?"

"It just happens. Once I know the answer, you'll know the answer." I'm still waiting on one myself. I keep walking past the trees. There's a bend in the path and I turn down it. I can see the Lake.

It's gorgeous. The sun is higher now and it hits the water just right. But the best view of The Lake will always be from the porch of the McCullers's cabin when Paige is old enough to wrap her arms around me and rest her chin on my shoulder. We'd watch the sunset and the sunrise in that position so many times when we had the cabin to ourselves.

"It's so pretty." Emily says. She's wiggling around on my back.

"It is." I've always loved the water. "Hold on. We're almost there."

The pier was a few steps ahead. The McCullers's cabin is not far from here. Paige and I have had plenty of chats on this very pier, some good and some bad. It's kinda funny that I ended up here the first time I time travel. It must mean something. But what's strange is that I never ran into Paige in all the times I visited The Lake in my childhood. We first meet each other in high school.

"Here we are." I announce.

Emily squirms off my back. She grins up at me and goes to the edge of the pier. She crouches down and stares into the water. "I like it here."

"Me too."

"My daddy taught me to swim. I stayed in the water all day. My mommy said I had to get out for dinner or I would turn into a raisin." She giggled.

"I can see how becoming a raisin would be a problem." I agree with her. My mom always did say that with a tone of amused mock exasperation. "You must really like swimming."

"No." Emily smiles. "I love it."

"I know another girl that loves swimming just as much as you do." It's so odd to have this conversation with this younger me. Paige once told me that I'm good with children since she always found it easy to talk to me when she was little. I told her it was because I was good with her. That we were great together. And I hardly think it counts that I'm good at talking to myself. Isn't that cheating?

"Can I meet her?"

"Someday." I look out at the water.

"When?"

"It's a surprise. But if you have any other questions you can ask me them." I open the paper bag. I take out the sleeve of crackers and the can of tuna. "In the meantime, you must be hungry, am I right?"

Emily nods and looks at everything I gathered up. "Tuna?"

"Slim pickings, I'm afraid. But we'll make do. You're not a picky eater." It's not a question. I've eaten some strange things when I've traveled. It's what happens when a young child is responsible for bringing meals. But Paige gets better at cooking as she gets older.

"My mommy says not to waste food and that we are lucky to have food because some people have none." She does a perfect imitation of my mother, who would never put up with a child that refused to eat.

"Smart woman your mother." I open the can of tuna and spoon a little bit onto a cracker. I hand it to her. "When you time travel you won't always have access to food. Which isn't good because time travel always makes you hungry."

"Yeah." Emily took a bite of her tuna cracker. "Are you a time traveler too?"

"Yes." I answer truthfully as I sit back on my arm and dip my feet in the water. The lake is cold and I shiver.

"Cool." Emily watches me. "Is it cold?"

"Yeah. A little, but it's nice." I smile at her. "You can see for yourself."

The surface of the water isn't that far from the edge of the pier so she has no problem sitting next to me and dipping her feet in the water. Her toes skim the water and she giggles. "It is nice."

She starts to move her feet around in the water slowly.

"Can I ask you something, Miss Emily?"

"Sure."

"How old are you?"

"I'm twenty four."

"That's old."

"I suppose to you that is." I laugh. "Do you have any other questions?"

She shakes her head. I make her another cracker with tuna. After I hand it to her, I make one for myself.

"Where did you come from?" She finishes her question before she takes a bite of her cracker.

"You mean when did I come from?" I laugh to myself. "Did you see what I did there? That was a joke." She stares at me like I'm a lunatic. "Well, before I was at the Lake I was getting home from a party."

A party with Paige. I was a little buzzed and leaning on Paige for support as she got the door to our apartment open. With her hand on the small of my back, she lead me inside. I had felt that tingling under my skin and knew I was about to disappear. Which sucks because Paige and I had paused in our making out in order to make sure our neighbors weren't getting a free show.

"Oh."

"Do you have another question?"

"Yeah. If you're my teacher, what are you going to teach me?" Emily grills me. It's a good question.

"A lot of things. Things you need to know." But not necessarily things you want to know. I shake my head at how my future selves dealt with me and it's how I'll deal with my past selves. "This is just the first day."

"So I'll see you again?"

"Yes. So I'm afraid you'll have to get used to seeing this face." I point a finger at myself as I scrunch up my face and stick out my tongue.

Emily giggles.

"But since it's the first day, we can just play a game." I make her another cracker with tuna and she takes it.

"What kind of game?"

"A guessing game." I reach into the bag and take out the M & M's. "If you win, I'll give you some. But if I win, I get some M&M's. Sound fair?"

Once she nods, I set the rules. "Okay, I'm going to open the bag and take an M&M out. What color do you think it is gonna be? I think it will be orange."

She looked at my plaid shirt for inspiration. "It's gonna be blue."

"Blue, huh?" I smirk at her. I already know the answer. I've played this game before.

"Yeah." Emily challenges right back.

Emily Fields is known for playing fair, but don't say she isn't competitive.

I pull out an M&M. It's blue. Which Spencer would say is the second most common color after orange. She would know. She actually researched that.

"Looks like you won. Hold out your hand." I pour a handful of M&M's in her hand.

She smiles and looks at me. "You can have some M&M's too." There's that Fields fairness again.

"Even though I didn't win?" I smirk. There's that fairness again. She nods. "Don't worry. We're going to play another round. You can go ahead and eat those. I don't mind."

"Okay." Emily hesitates before she selects a candy and eats it.

"Ready for part two?" I ask her. "I bet I can guess your favorite animal."

She looks at me skeptically before agreeing. "You look like the type of little girl that likes elephants. In fact, I bet you have a stuffed elephant that you like to sleep with."

"Yeah! My daddy bought me Bella when he left for Texas the first time so I wouldn't miss him so much. She hears how much he misses my mommy and me 'cause she's got big ears." Emily lifts her arms up above her head and then hugs herself with a smile.

I remember the stuffed toy well. Even though it's worn out, Bella still isn't far from my bed. Paige teases me about it, but then I bring up Sharky and that shuts her up. It's one of the reasons I refer to her as an adorable badass. To shut me up and stop the teasing, she plants a kiss on my lips and I forget everything.

"Why are you smiling so hard? Is it 'cause you won and get candy now?" Emily asks me sweetly.

"No, it's because I get something much sweeter than candy." I grin.

"Like cake?"

"Better than cake."

"Cupcakes?" She guesses. "I like cupcakes."

That makes me think of a snarky comment Spencer made, back when she was playing some kind of strip trivia with Andrew Campbell and I brought over a cupcake to cheer her up. What she said can't be repeated in front of innocent five year olds least the baked good gets ruined for her forever. But I'm free to think about Paige's cupcakes.

"What's sweeter than candy?" Her brows furrow as she tries to figure it out.

"You'll figure it out when you're older. I promise. I can't tell you now. I wish I could but it's against the rules."

I don't know that it's against the rules, but it's against one of my rules. I try not to tell myself about the future. Never know if changing the future could make it worse.

"There's rules?"

"Yeah. First rule of time travel club is don't talk about time travel club. The second rule of time travel club is don't talk about time travel club." I try to keep a straight face, but fail miserably. The reference is lost on her, so she looks at me in confusion.

"But I can still tell my mommy and daddy right?" She bites her lip.

"Of course. You can tell your parents anything and they'll still love you." It's advice I wish I knew was advice at the time. It was hard to come out to my parents. I was scared of losing them, and I thought my mother would never accept me for who I am.

"I know my parents love me. They're my parents." Emily looks at me like I'm dumb for not knowing the most obvious thing in the world.

"They do love you. So much." I nodded. "How about we share the rest of these?" I held up the bag of M&M's. "And you can tell me about yourself. And your mom and your dad until it's time for you to go back home."

And she does. She tells me about she loves pizza and she wants a turtle instead of a pony because horses are weird. And that she loves pizza and is excited to start school. How her daddy is a soldier and her mommy stays home with her and they make chick adobo and cookies sometimes. She is in the middle of telling me about the girls in her neighborhood, who are of course Spencer and Alison, when she cries out. She reaches out for me and I grab her so she doesn't fall into the water. But the jacket is just empty cloth in my hand. I sit for a while before I get up and walk towards the cabin. On the way back, I search my memory and remember. My younger self put on her pajamas and got into bed. The next morning, over a breakfast of waffles and bacon, I told my mom and dad about my nice dream. My parents laughed and my dad talked about Doc Brown and DeLoreans. He said time travel would be pretty interesting and would love to try it.

That was the first time.


	3. The First Time Paige Meets Emily

_Here we go with another trip into what is Time Traveler's Wife Paily __styles. I hope you enjoy it. It's better for it to come out short. So you don't have to wait as long? Trying to put my own spin on it and hope it works. _

_I don't own PLL or The Time Traveler's Wife. Thanks for reading this. _

June 22, 1998 (Emily is 38, Paige is 5)

PAIGE: It's my first day of swimming lessons, even though I already know how to swim. My mama taught me. And since my mama is so good at swimming and she wasn't working like my Daddy had to, she was going to teach other kids how to swim too.

But I like it better when it was just the two of us swimming. I don't like that there was gonna be other kids there. Sometimes kids were nice, like my friend Pru when she comes over to my house sometimes. But sometimes kids are mean, like Noel Kahn. He made Sean eat sand one time. Boys are so gross.

What if the other kids were going to be mean to me. So I'm hiding in the locker room. My mama was talking to some of the mommies and daddies that were early, so she didn't see me sneak off.

The locker room is really big. There was the locker that my mama had put our clothes into when we were done changing into our bathing suits. I like my bathing suit. I picked it out all by myself. I didn't like the pink ones. There was a blue one with a shark on it. My mama said it was a dolphin. But I knew it was a shark, and I told her so. That made my mama laugh and she said I was right.

There was a loud noise. Like something fell down, but I wasn't scared. I went to go see what it was. There was a another noise and I picked up the closest thing and threw it hard.

"Ow. Please don't do that again."

It was a lady.

She was coming out of a shower wrapped in a towel, but she wasn't wet.

"Did you fall? Your lip is bleeding."

The lady looked up at me with wide eyes. "I did fall. But my lip is bleeding because I got hit by a rogue sunscreen bottle."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I thought you were a shadow monster."

"It's okay. Can't be too careful about those shadow monsters."

I still feel really bad. "You're bleeding because of me."

"Oh, sweetheart. It was an accident. I'm not mad at you. So you shouldn't be mad at you. Understood?"

"Still. You can have my cookies. I was saving 'em for later. But you can have them to make you feel better." I go to the locker where my mama put our things. I brought my bag with me. Inside is my cookies. I take the plastic bag out and hold it out in front of me.

"I can't take all of your cookies. How about you have one and I have one? Deal?"

"Deal." I let her take a cookie. And then I grab one. She sits on a bench and then I sit next to her.

She takes a bite of her cookie. "This is really good. Did you make this?" The lady's smile is pretty. I like her smile. It makes me feel really happy. I want to see her smile again.

"Yeah. Well, my mama did. But I helped!" I smile back at her.

"They're very yummy." She takes another bite. "I like your braid. And your dolphin." The lady nods at me.

"Thanks. My mama did it. And it's not a dolphin. It's a shark." I pout and cross my arms.

"It's a shark. My mistake." The lady laughs and that is pretty too. I like her laugh. "Sharks are great swimmers, don't you think?"

"Yeah." I nodded. This lady got it. That's why sharks were so neat.

"You look like a great swimmer yourself."

I looked down at my feet. "My mama taught me. But I still gotta go to swim lessons."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to practice. Right?"

The lady had a point. I nodded again. "Right."

"So why don't you go back to the pool? Show the other kids how it's done." The lady is beautiful. She has shiny hair and brown eyes that make her feel special.

I am still worried about the other kids. I don't want to get made fun of. Sometimes when another kid stands out, they get teased. Like Spencer Hastings. What if because I already know how to swim, they tease me?

"I don't wanna."

"Paige," the lady says softly.

"How do you know my name?" I slide away from her on the bench.

"I know a lot of things about you, Paige McCullers."

"How?"

"My name is Emily. We're friends. In the future."

"The future?" I scrunch my face up. That doesn't make sense. I tell her so.

"It doesn't make sense. You're right about that. But I'm a time traveler."

"You are?" I look at her. She doesn't look like a time traveler. "You don't have on shiny future clothes. And where's your time machine?"

"I don't have a time machine. Not even a DeLorean." The lady laughs at what she just said. She's really pretty, but also crazy. "I don't have a time machine because that's not how this works. I don't need a time machine, because my body time travels on it's own."

EMILY: This is the youngest I've ever seen Paige. And she's adorable. Even when she's looking at me like she doesn't quite believe me. "It's true."

"Okay."

"And I don't have future clothes because I can't take anything with me when I time travel." I explain.

"Oh. Like clothes?" She looks at me in the towel I'm borrowing from someone kind enough to leave it laying about.

"Yes. Exactly, you clever girl. And other things. No matter how much I wish I could take them with me." I think about the things Paige makes for me over the years. Small things like drawings and bracelets. "Because it could a very big mess. If time travelers took something from the past then it would change everything from then on. Or if they took money and got rich, it wouldn't be fair."

"You could be a pirate. You could hide money and stuff somewhere and then have a map and look for it later!" She offers up the solution we use. She puts clothes and things for me to use in hiding spots around Rosewood and at the Lake. And I guess I'm like pirate since I do crush the stock market, leaving behind tips. Within reason of course.

"That is a great idea. But I don't really need money. I need clothes."

She looks at the locker she went to earlier. "Um. I don't have any. You're too big."

"I don't need clothes now. But for next time. Anything really. Clothes your mama or daddy don't need. Sweatpants and sweaters. I'm not picky." I smile at her softly.

"Next time?"

"Yeah. Next time. Do you have a pen and paper?" I finish off the rest of my cookie.

"No." She frowns at seemingly letting me down. "But I gots coloring pencils and a coloring book in my bag."

"That works too."

Paige pulls her bag out of her locker and brings it to me. I close up the zip-lock of cookies and put them back inside. I take out her pencils and coloring book. I pick out the purple one and write down the next date. I'll be seeing her. It's the second date from a list I've committed to memory.

_June 27, 1998 big rock_

"At my house?" Paige asks.

"Yeah. After lunch. You know the spot. The one where you play." The McCullers have a huge house and an equally huge backyard. It's not really fenced off like most of the houses in Rosewood. There's a spot where we'll have some privacy and I won't be seen.

"Hello?" A distinctively male voice call out from the door. A voice I know too well.

"Look, Paige. I have to hide. I can't be seen. This has to be our secret. You can talk to the man. You don't have to be afraid of him. He's nice. But I'm afraid this is good-bye."

"Okay." Paige nods, finally trusting me. I rush into the shower stall I showed up in.

"I'm coming in! Don't mind me. My daughter left her sunscreen in her and my wife will kill me if I don't drench her with the stuff. If anyone in here could help me out. Hello?" My father calls out again.

No one will answer since it was just me and Paige in the locker room. I look around the stall for the sunscreen bottle that Paige threw at me. It's still intact. I'm grateful it didn't bust open. Paige did throw it hard enough.

From behind the shower curtain I slide it toward Paige just in time for my dad to round the corner of the lockers.

He looks so young. This is one of those times where I'm actually older than my parents. He's dressed in board shorts and a t-shirt. He's also covering his eyes, so he won't accidentally see anything he's not supposed to. He bumps his shoulder into the row of lockers.

This makes Paige giggle. I can't blame her. It's funny and I'm trying not to giggle too.

"Oh. Hello. I'm sorry. I kinda thought there was no one in here. Just trying to sneak in and sneak out with our bottle of sunscreen." He cracks a smile at her.

"Is this it?" Paige holds the bottle up.

"Yes it is. Thanks so much." How is it that my dad got to meet Paige before I did? "My daughter just had to get ready by herself. So I let her. She did that pretty well, except she left her sunscreen behind." He shrugged. "Say, you look to be around my daughter's age. Are you going to start lessons today?"

"Yeah. But I don't wanna." Paige glances at my hiding spot.

"Well, let's see. Maybe I can introduce you to my daughter and you'll know someone in your class."

"Okay."

I wonder why I don't remember meeting Paige. I think about my first swimming class. Oh no. I can remember feeling sick on my first day of class. I was sitting down on a chair and when my dad came to tell me it was time for class I threw up, almost all over his feet. He ended up taking me home and I had to join the next session of swimming lessons. And by then, Paige was out sick with whatever I had.

I guess we don't actually meet until high school.

Paige turns around and looks at where I'm hiding. She is biting her lip. I nod at her and give her a thumbs up. She nods at me. I give her a wave good bye.

"Bye," Paige says softly, but I can still hear it. I'm disappearing in front of her eyes, which go wide with surprise.

My dad turns around to see what has caught her attention. It doesn't matter because I'm gone.

January 11, 2031 (Emily and Paige are 38)

PAIGE: It's early, a bit before my alarm would usually go off. I'd usually be going on my run but it's my birthday. I'm treating myself to a bit of a lie in after all the celebrating Emily and I were doing. Before I could turn around and spoon Emily, she slams into me. She's been else when. She materializes on top of me. Usually I wouldn't be complaining about our current position, but I wasn't expecting it. I'm screaming, and she's screaming. After scaring the shit out of each other, we start laughing at each other.

I stare up at her. But my grin turns into a frown when I see that her lip is bleeding. "How did that happen?"

"You threw a bottle of sunscreen at me."

I don't remember throwing anything at Emily. And I remember every time I've hurt Emily.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's in the past. Literally." She chuckles. "Your throw packed a punch. You should have gone out for softball."

I look away, but her teasing works. I crack a small smile.

"See it's already stopped bleeding. Beside you already made it up to me." She laughs.

"Yeah. Wait, what?" I'm confused.

"You shared a cookie with me. And you know how much I love your mom's cookies."

"When were you?" I ask her.

"Our first time. Don't you remember?"

"I do. I mean- how could I forget our first time?" I stammer out. Emily is naked and still on top of me.

"No. Not that first time." Emily laughs. It's such a beautiful sound, and I'm glad I get to hear it every day.

"Oh." Emily is still teasing me, and it's not fair because I'm so distracted by her.

"The first time you meet me. You were so adorable. And tiny."

"No way. I'm not adorable. I'm badass."

"Guess you were one of those rare five year old badasses. Armed with sunscreen bottles." Emily smirks.

I bite my lip, still feeling guilty about that.

"You're still upset. You can't be upset on your birthday. But if it's still bothering you, I know a way you can make it up to me." She kisses my bare shoulder.

"Yeah?" I grin.

"Do you have any of your mom's birthday cookies left?" She cracks up and falls on her back.

"You're the worst. You can't do this to me on my birthday." I cover my eyes with my arm in frustration. I feel Emily get off the bed.

"I didn't say we had to stop. We're just going to take a break. Refuel." Emily pauses at the doorway, all of her skin on display. She winks playfully.

"All right." I get up and follow her out of the room. "We don't have to meet our parents until eleven. We have plenty of time."


	4. The Second Time Paige Meets Emily

Hey guys. I knocked out another quick chapter. I hope you guys dig it.

I don't own The Time Traveler's Wife or PLL.

June 27, 1998 (Emily is 37, Paige is 5)

_PAIGE:_ The calendar in the kitchen says today is the same as the lady wrote down in my coloring book. I didn't really believe she was a time traveler. Cause she didn't have a time machine. Mama was making sandwiches for lunch. Turkey because that's Daddy's favorite. Turkey is yummy, but sometimes I like roast beef. Daddy comes into the kitchen and tries to take a slice of turkey. Mama yells at him, but she's smiling.

"You can wait until it's in a sandwich, Sharp."

"If you won't let me steal some turkey, then let me steal something else." Daddy leans in and kisses her. Mama just laughs.

I like when Mama laughs. And it makes me think of how that lady laughed. That was really pretty. Prettier than when Mama laughs. I don't think I'm allowed to kiss the lady to make her laugh though. Emily will need clothes though. She said she would like some clothes. Maybe that will make her smile.

"Mama, can I have some clothes?"

"What for?" She cuts one of the sandwiches in half.

"I want to play dress up with Emily outside." I answer.

"Who's Emily?" Mama asks. "I don't think I've met her before."

"Course not, Mama." I giggle. "She's from the future."

Daddy shares a look with Mama. "Is that so? Well, I think there are some clothes you can borrow before we drop them off for the rummage sale at the church."

"You can play with Emily after you have lunch." Mama said. "Wash up."

I worry about Emily because she really wanted some clothes. But if I don't eat lunch Mama might not let me go outside. I say okay and wash my hands. I sit at the table. Mama puts a plate in front of me with half a sandwich and some potato chips and some carrot sticks. She always says that vegtables are good for me. It's okay 'cause I like carrots. Mama and Daddy talk while we eat and have family time. I say I like swimming lessons and Mama is a good teacher. I don't say how there was a man in the lady locker room. I don't want him to get in trouble. He's a Daddy like my Daddy. And he said he had a daughter too, but I didn't get to meet her. Mama said she got sick and had to go home. Being sick isn't fun.

I finish my lunch. I ask Mama for the other half of my sandwich. Emily might be hungry too. Mama says that's a good idea and maybe I should bring some cookies too. I tell her Emily really liked the cookies I shared last time.

"Tell my fan that I'm glad she likes my cookies. Let me get everything ready for you picnic, while you go look at the clothes."

I nod my head and then run to where the boxes of old clothes are. I look and look. I wonder if Emily wants clothes like Mama wears or like Daddy wears. I pick some short pants that are light brown since it's summer time and pants like for playing sports that make crinkly noise. One shirt has short sleeves. It is orange like a pumpkin. I pick out another shirt because what if she doesn't like pumpkins. This one is like what my dad wears to work. It has buttons and stripes that go up and down. And I grab a big towel because Emily was wearing one last time. I pick them up and then I grab my coloring book so I can show it to Emily. I go to the kitchen.

Mama and Daddy are talking. They are talking about me and Emily.

"It's normal for kid's her age to have an imaginary friend. It's all part of a child coming into their identities and how they view the world. I'll let you know when we should worry." Mama tells Daddy.

"You know me, I like to worry. I'm good at it." Daddy says back. "But I'll trust you since you do have more medical training than I do."

"So it has nothing to do with staying on my good side?"

"None what so ever." Daddy sees me. "Hey, Little Nugget. Is that what you want to play with?"

"Do you think Emily will like them?" I hold up the shirt.

"I'm sure she'll love whatever you choose." Mama says with a smile. "Let me put that in the bag with the sandwich and cookies."

I give the clothes to Mama and she folds them. She puts them in the bag and gives it to me.

"All right, be sure to come back for supper." Daddy says so I hug him.

"Okay, Daddy!" I go outside and hop down the stairs. I run to where the end of our backyard is. There are some trees but then there is a little clearing where there's a big rock. When I get there, I climb on the rock and wait. And wait. And wait.

Maybe Emily isn't coming. Maybe it was a dream because no one is that beautiful but angels. I told Pru that Emily is a time traveler. And she said that time travelers are only real in movies. Like that one Daddy laughs at with the car and the hoverboards. Even if Pru is my friend, I want Emily to be real. Not just a dream.

Maybe I can just leave the clothes for her. And the sandwich. But then I hear a noise and someone groan.

_EMILY:_ Ugh. I really hate the landing part. Because the being naked part is made worse when I scrape my hands and knees on the ground. "Ow."

I look around for any sign of Paige. She isn't here, but there's a bag from Macy's. Inside are clothes. That solves one things. My scraped knee still stings, but I'll get over it. "Paige?"

She doesn't answer. I pull out the first thing and it's a light orange shirt. I throw it over my head. Then I pull out another shirt. It's a button up with short sleeves that is pale blue pinstripes. I smile because I have a fondness for button up shirts. At least I'll have something for later if it gets chilly. I pull out a pair of Bermuda shorts. Based on the cut, I imagine they belong to Paige's mom. There a pair of trackpants as well. I'm impressed by the variety of clothes Paige picked out. "You did great, Paige."

Clothes aren't the only thing that's in the bag.

There's a large beach towel. I spread that out on the ground. I fold the trackpants for a makeshift pillow. And now here's what makes me moan a little bit. There's a container with half a sandwich, chips, and carrot sticks and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. I tear open the container and take a huge bite of the sandwich. I close my eyes and groan.

That's when I hear a tiny giggle. I look up from where I'm sitting on the beach towel and there's Paige. "You're laughing at me?"

"Yeah. You eat funny." Paige grins.

"I'm just really hungry. I get hungry when I travel through time. And I was just making breakfast when I disappeared." Actually, it was me helping Paige make us breakfast. I was toasting the bagels. "So I haven't eaten yet."

"Breakfast? But it's almost dinner time." Paige scrunched her face in confusion.

"Hmm. What day is it?" I ask her.

"June 27, 1998. How come you don't know?" Paige chewed on her lip.

"Because I just go here. Like I said, for me I was about to have breakfast on September 2, 2030. "

"But you wrote it down for me." She shows me a page the coloring book she's been clutching. And right there in green colored pencil is my neat handwriting. I look at her and search my mind for the best way to explain how crazy time travel is to a five year old.

"You like Disney movies right?" I ask, knowing that Paige not only loves Disney movies, but loves them.

"Yeah. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite!"

I knew that too. Paige said she could relate to the Beast at times. Which I always made my heart ache. I wish I could have been there for her when she needed me. I smile at her sadly.

"Well, when you put the tape in the VCR you watch it from the start to the finish. Right?"

"Um, yeah."

I can tell she is thinking about it. How else would you watch a tape, she wonders. DVDs not being a common thing yet makes it harder to explain the next part.

"That's how life is for you. You play the movie from start to finish. You wake up and get out of bed. Then you eat the breakfast your Mama makes you. Then you brush your teeth. And then maybe you do some coloring or drawing. Then lunch and you meet up with Pru at the playground. Or have swimming lessons. Then you have dinner and go to bed. You don't go to the playground and then brush your teeth and then eat breakfast right?"

"That would be silly."

"It would be silly. But its like that for me because I'm a time traveler. I go from one time to another. So its like if you put in your movie, and wanted to skip to when the servants sing Be Our Guest to Belle. You hit fast forward, but you went too far ahead and now you're watching Beast and Belle play in the snow."

Paige's face lights up as she sits on the beach towel. "I love that part. It's when they start to fall in love. And Belle knows Beast isn't mean. Just scared."

I study Paige for a moment. She's right of course. Beast was scared that no one would love him. I remember when there was a seemingly angry and bitter girl that said cruel things. She wasn't a bully, she was just afraid. "Sometimes someone is mean, because they are scared. You're so smart."

"It's good that Belle saw him."

"Yeah. It was."

On my part, I almost didn't see Paige. Lucky for me, I gave her a chance that first time. And even luckier, Paige always gave me a chance. She never gave up on me.

"But do you get what I mean?"

"I think so. Sometimes you get lost in time and don't know where you are?" She asked, a little unsure.

"That's it."

Whenever I get lost, I look for Paige. She's my anchor, and I always find my way back to her.

"Does someone look for you? When you get lost? If I got lost my Mama and Daddy would get scared." Paige crawls closer to me. "Because they would miss me."

"Someone does miss me when I'm gone. And I miss her too."

"That's sad."

"It is. But I don't want to make you sad." I smile at her. "You know, I'm sure your parents miss you right now. You did say it was almost dinner time."

"Yeah. It is. You hungry?" Paige frowns. "You can come inside for dinner."

"That's very nice of you to offer. But I can't. I'm not supposed to meet your family until 2008. Ten years from now."

That's not really true. I didn't know it at the time but Beth McCullers was my swimming teacher when I was five. Miss Mac. Of course. I know she and Nick both show up to one of our first swim meets in freshman year. We did pretty bad. I can remember Paige looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. The McCullers comforted their daughter and took her home. Paige would later tell me that the look of disappointment was never directed at me. She had thought I would be disappointed in her for losing. The reason why I didn't know until I started traveling back to see her.

"Why?" Paige looked like she couldn't begin to think about the end of 1998, let alone a time a decade away.

"It's one of the rules. If people from the future talk to people from now, everything can get-"

"Messy?"

Paige has finished my sentence and I laugh. "Yeah. Messy."

"But you talk to me." Paige bites her lip like she's unsure she's worthy of my attention.

"Because you're special, Paige. You know how to keep a secret." For all that Paige wears her heart on her sleeves with a combination of the worst poker face, she never told anyone about my time traveling unless I said she could.

"This is a secret?" Paige looks stricken.

Maybe I spoke too soon. But then again nothing bad happened.

"Did you tell someone about me?"

"I told Pru. She's my best friend so I had to tell her! But she thinks I made you up. And I told my mama and daddy. But they think you're my im- iman- image fairy friend." Paige looks proud of herself for getting the word right.

"Oh!" Her parents think I'm a figment of her imagination, something their child made up to explore the world around her. And it explains something Ma told me when Paige and I started dating. That it was weird that her girlfriend would have the same name as her imaginary friend.

And Pru? Pru did always give me judgey eyes early in my relationship with Paige, but she is Paige's Spencer and Hanna all rolled into one. I had a lot to prove in her eyes before Pru thought I was worthy of her best friend. Especially after Samara. I don't think a five year old could remember what her friend told her. Pru does know now of course. But there was no cry of "I KNEW IT!" She said she knew something was up with me but she always figured it was related to the thing with A.

"Well, as long as you don't tell anybody else the future is safe." I nudge her with my shoulder. She giggles. "But I think it's time for you to have dinner."

"Are you going to stay out here? All night?" Paige looks worried.

"No. Not all night." I tell even though I don't know when I'll be going back.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Paige stares up at me with those big brown eyes and I almost say yes.

"I really wish I could. But I'll be fine. I have the rest of the sandwich and the rest. Don't worry so much." I tell her as ruffle her hair.

"Okay." Paige stands up with hesitancy. "Will you come back?"

I think about it. I have the List memorized. "July 6. But not here at your house. Up at the cabin by the Lake." There's a small break from swimming lesson because of Independance Day. Her parents will take her up for the holiday.

"Oh." Paige looks excited. "You'll love it up there. Its pretty."

"I bet." I love how excited she is. It really is beautiful up there. Both of us love the Lake. "You should bring that notebook your mommy gave you. And a nice blue pen."

"I can do that. That's easy." Paige beams up at me, ready to take on the task.

"Good, good. Run along now. Before your parents come looking for you. Your dad is probably sick with worry." Nick McCullers was probably about ready to run around the whole neighborhood like a chicken with its head cut off looking for his daughter.

"I will. Run home as fast as I can. Bye, Emily." Paige hugs me.

"Bye, Paige." I pat her on the back. "I'll see you again."

Just like she said, Paige runs off back home. I sit back down on the towel and finish off the sandwich and chips. I pop a cookie in my mouth, holding it between my teeth as I put on the button up. The cookies Ma makes are amazing and only rivaled by the ones my mom makes. I eat the carrot sticks more out of boredom than hunger.

Once the carrots are gone and I've eaten the second cookie, I contemplate taking a walk. It'll be dark soon, but it is summer. Neighborhood kids would be out taking advantage of having no school the next day.

I don't have to worry about how to kill time for much longer because I can feel the tug. There's the familiar buzzing under my skin and I'm going home to Paige.


	5. Little Emily Time Travels Again

**Author's Note: Yay. Sorry I've been so quiet on this fic. I had finals. But now finals are done. This chapter is kinda out of no one but I'm sure it will make someone very happy to see. If there is any scene you'd like to see, I'm open to ideas.**

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><p>Emily is 5<p>

_Emily_: The Lady said I could time travel. I thought she was funny. That was a really nice dream. I hope I have it again because I have more questions.

And I guess I fell asleep because I'm not in my room no more. I'm in a big room with a couch and a little table in front of it. I look around. There's a big black rectangle on the wall. On the table, there is a small shiny rectangle. I pick it up. Then the door opens.

The ladies are new. I don't see the time travel lady. One lady has brown hair and glasses. She looks mad at the other lady. She has yellow hair and is laughing.

"Spencer, they gave us a key for a reason." The yellow hair lady says.

"I don't like it. Being here when Paige and Em aren't here, bad things happen." The brown hair lady says.

"Don't worry. I told them I was going to borrow that necklace. We'll be in and out real quick."

I try to put the rectangle on the table. It falls down. The ladies see me. They look surprised to see me.

"This is why I don't like being here without Paige. This is what happens." The brown hair lady holds her head.

"Oh, hush. She's so adorable."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." The yellow hair lady is nice. "You must be Emily."

"Yeah! How do you know my name?"

"We're friends."

"Hanna!" The other lady says. She's grumpy.

"But I don't know you."

"You will."

"Are you time travelers, too? The lady said I could ask her questions. But she's not here."

"No. But we're her friends as well. Emily told us some things. How about we get you some clothes and try to answer your questions? Sound good?"

I nod.

"I don't like this."

"What? Clothes?"

"Of course not. I just don't think we should tell her too much."

"Okay we won't. But we should watch her until she goes home." The yellow hair lady looks at me. "Ignore, Spencer. She doesn't like fun."

"I like fun. But I also like not creating a time paradox."

"She's grumpy." I say.

"You're right. Spencer is grumpy. My name is Hanna, by the way." She takes my hand.

"Okay. Miss Hanna. And Miss Spen- Spensa?"

"She's so cute. Spence is fine." Hanna says. "Right, Spence?"

"Fine." Miss Spence smiles at me.

"You're prettier when you smile." I tell her.

"Thank you." She bites her lip and looks away.

"Let's go get you clothes. I'm afraid that they don't have kid clothes, but we can manage. Spencer, can you see if there's anything we can feed her?"

We go into a bed room. It's got a big bed like my mommy and daddy have. Hanna looks in some drawers. "Can I pick?"

"Sure."

There's a lot of shirts. I pull some out. "Batman! Can I wear this one?"

Miss Hanna laughs. "Of course."

She puts the shirt over my head. I put my arms through the holes. The shirt is big.

"See, instant dress. You look fabulous." Miss Hanna holds her hand up. "High five."

I hit her hand with a smile.

"Awesome. Let's get some grub." Miss Hanna brings me to the kitchen.

Miss Spence has some bread out with some peanut butter and jelly. She is spreading some peanut butter onto bread when she looks at us. "You picked that shirt out for her."

"I didn't, I swear. She picked it out all on her own. Isn't it so sweet?" Miss Hanna is really happy.

"Yeah! Batman is cool!" I say.

"I hope you think PB&J is cool." Miss Spence puts the bread together.

"It's all she knows how to make." Miss Hanna laughs.

"I do not. I can make other things." Miss Spence is frowning.

"PB&J is cool. I like grape jelly." I don't want her to feel bad.

Miss Spence shows me the jelly. "Well, guess what. Grape jelly."

"Thank you, Miss Spence." Mommy says I should always be polite.

"Hey what about me? Spence shouldn't get all the credit. She doesn't even live here."

"Thank you, Miss Hanna." I look around the kitchen. Everything is shiny. "Who lives here then?"

"Emily does." Miss Hanna answers. Miss Spencer shushes her.

"Okay."

"That's it? No other questions?"

"Hanna," Miss Spencer sounds like when Mommy is telling me not to do something.

"Fine. I won't spoil anything for her. Just so you know. I'm sure she doesn't remember any of this." Miss Hanna looks at me.

"You do not want to know what happens if she does remember. Last time I was in their apartment alone, Em jumped to conclusions. It was not pretty. She was mad at me for weeks."

"Oh man. She was! I remember that too." Miss Hanna starts laughing. "Spence may not always be fun, but she it's funny when things like that happen to her."

"Ignore her." Miss Spence went back to the sandwiches. "Do you want crusts or no crusts?"

"Crusts, please!"

"So polite. Maybe you can give Hanna a lesson or two about manners." Miss Spence cut the sandwich into four triangles.

Miss Hanna stuck her tongue out. "I'd like for mine to have no crusts, _please_."

"You are an adult and can cut off your own crusts." Miss Spence only had half a smile, but she still sounded like she was telling a joke.

"You trust me with a knife?"

"Good point." Miss Spence cut up another sandwich. She handed put it on a plate and handed it to Miss Hanna.

"And that's how I get you to do my bidding." Miss Hanna laughs.

"But that's how you get to keep your fingers attached to your hands." Miss Spence doesn't look at her. She looks at me. "Well, eat up."

"What about you? Don't you want a sandwich?" I frown.

"Wow. Even as a child, Emily has that team mom thing going on." Miss Hanna stares at Miss Spencer. "Well, just don't stand there. Make yourself a sandwich so the kid will stop worrying."

Miss Spence takes out more bread and makes another sandwich. "Thank you for looking out for me."

"She always does." Miss Hanna says and takes a bite of her sandwich.

"What do you want to drink, Emily?" Miss Spence walks over to the refrigrator. She opens it and looks inside. "There's some water, apple juice, and milk."

"Can I have milk please?" I ask.

"She is like so precious." Miss Hanna gets us some glasses. "I think I was a huge brat when I was her age."

"You still are." Miss Spence puts the milk in front of me.

"Thank you!" I smile up at her.

We eat our sandwiches. Miss Spence and Miss Hanna are drinking water. The sandwich is yummy and I say so.

"I'm glad you like them." Miss Spence says.

"Yeah."

Miss Hanna has a ring on her hand like my mommy and daddy have. And so does Miss Spence. They also talk to each other like my mommy and daddy. My daddy will say something funny and then my mommy will shush him. But she still smiles. They love each other.

"Miss Hanna, is Miss Spence your wife?"

Miss Spence starts making noise and Miss Hanna hits her on her back.

"What! No!" Miss Spence yells.

I look down. And I wipe at my eyes.

"Good going, Hastings. You made her cry." Miss Hanna says.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, Emily. I didn't mean to yell. I'm not mad at you. I was just surprised." Miss Spence says. "No. Hanna isn't my wife."

"But she wishes." Miss Hanna snorts.

"We're really good friends. But that doesn't mean another girl can't have a wife, even if some people think it's wrong." Miss Spence says.

"Oh, who's giving her spoilers now?"

"Hanna, children aren't born homophobic. It's an innocent assumption that children are likely to have until they they get to school and are told it's wrong because of heteronormativity and gender roles."

"I know that."

"It's wrong?" I ask. I'm kinda scared.

"No, sweetie. Love isn't wrong."

"Okay." I feel better.

"It's too bad she won't remember this." Miss Hanna sounds sad.

"Yeah." Miss Spence looks at me. "How about you finish up your sandwich and milk, and then we can do something fun, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good." I nod at her.

I finish my sandwich and milk. Miss Spence and Miss Hanna finish after me. Miss Spence puts our plates and glasses into the sink.

"Are your hands sticky?" Miss Hanna asks me.

"No." I frown. "I don't like being sticky."

"Me too. Lets go clean up, Mini Em." Miss Hanna puts her hand on my shoulder.

"I hope you're not taking her just so you get out of having to do the dishes!" Miss Spence says. She's shaking her head but there is a tiny smile there.

"I would never." Miss Hanna puts her hand to her chest.

"Mini Em?"

"Yeah. Because there's a Big Emily, right? We don't want to get confused." Miss Hanna laughs.

"Hanna gets confused easily." Miss Spence is also laughing. She is washing the dishes.

"But you love me anyways." Miss Hanna takes me to the bathroom. She helps me wash my hands.

"Where's Big Emily?" I ask.

"She's been busy with work and since she has some time tonight, she is having a date night." Miss Hanna wipes my hand with a towel.

"Oh. What's a date night?" I ask.

"Well, Emily is married. But since she was working a lot, her wife missed her a lot. And she missed her wife. So they're going to make up for lost time. Actually it's not so much a date night as it is a weekend getaway." Miss Hanna takes me to the living room.

"My mommy and daddy have date nights! Sometimes my daddy has to leave because he's an Army man. And when he comes back, they have dinner just the two of them. And I have to go sat with my grandma. She said they're hoping to make me a baby brother or sister." I scrunch my nose up.

Miss Hanna gives me a funny look. She looks like she's worried.

"But she didn't say where babies come from."

"Oh, um." Miss Hanna looks away from me. "Maybe you can ask Spencer. Come on. Let's go see what she's up to."

Miss Spence was standing with paper and some pens by the couch. "Hey, Emily. I thought maybe you could do some drawing."

"Okay. Will you draw with me?" I ask.

"Sure thing. We'll draw with you." Miss Hanna says and goes sits down on the floor right away. Miss Spence does so too. We all start drawing. Miss Spence is drawing a cat at a window. And Miss Hanna is drawing a lady in a pretty dress. Miss Hanna can draw better than Miss Spence but I wasn't going to say.

"And what is that supposed to be?" Miss Hanna looks at Miss Spence's paper.

"It's cat." Miss Spence frowns.

"It looks like a coconut." Miss Hanna laughs.

"I think it looks like cat, Miss Spence. A very fat cat." I tell her. I don't want her to get sad.

"Thank you, Emily." Miss Spence smiles at me. "What are you drawing?"

"Oh! I'm drawing the Lake. My mommy and daddy are going to take me there." I point at my daddy and mommy and me.

"And your elephant?" Miss Hanna points at my drawing of Bella.

"See how come you could tell that's an elephant?" Miss Spence pouts.

"Because she has a trunk duh." Miss Hanna shake her head.

"Yeah! That's Bella. She's blue and she sleeps in my bed." I say.

"That's so cute. I want five."

"Elephants?" Miss Spencer asks as she continues to draw with a brown pencil.

"No, kids."

"You want to be a mommy!" I gasp. "I think you will be a good mommy."

"Thank you for believing in me." Miss Hanna hugs me.

"You'll be a good mommy too, Miss Spence." I say.

"Yeah. If my kids end up like you that would be great." Miss Spence touches my hair.

We keep drawing and Miss Spence and Miss Hanna ask me questions. I say I am five years old. Miss Spence and Miss Hanna say they are 28. I say that when I saw Big Emily she was just 24 and that was two days ago. All Miss Hanna says is that time travel was weird like that.

I yawn. I am getting sleepy. But I want to stay up. Miss Hanna said that Big Emily and her wife will be back soon. Miss Spence shushed her again. But I want to see Big Emily. And her wife. Because Miss Spence said it was okay for a girl to love a girl like my mommy loves my daddy. I want to tell Big Emily that's she's not wrong and it's okay.

"Someone is getting tired." Miss Spence laughs.

"No." I frown.

"Really? Looks like you can barely keep your eyes open. It must be way past your bedtime."

"Why are you arguing with a five year old?" Miss Hanna says.

"I'm teasing her. It's what I do with Emily. And with you." Miss Spence says back.

I close my eyes, but I hear the door open.

_Paige:_ "Is she still here?"

Spencer and Hanna turn to look at me. But they don't need to answer because I see Emily sitting at the coffee table, struggling to stay awake. Not my wife Emily. But a young version. It's weird to see her like this, and now I know what it must have felt like for her to see me when I was five years old.

"Where's Em?"

"She had to wait for the elevator. We got your text in the lobby. The one about _her_. She can't believe you waited so long to text us that _she_ was here." I'm frowning. They waited until the last possible moment to text. I had been laughing at something Emily had said when I got another text from Hanna. I had replied that we were just walking into the lobby. A few seconds later, she had texted back that there was a five year old Emily up stairs. I had shoved the phone at Emily and ran up the stairs two at a time.

"We didn't want to interrupt your time together. And you were driving back, we didn't want you to rush back and get into like an accident."

"Please, it was more like you wanted to spend more time with Mini Emily." Spencer cuts in.

It has to be true for both of them. Spencer knows better than that. I couldn't blame them, but Emily was going to give them an earful once the little version of her left.

Emily is resting her head on her hand. I walk over to her. She looks up at me sleepily. I smile at her and she smiles back. "Hi, Emily."

"Hi."

"You look sleepy. We should get you to bed." I bend down to pick her up.

"I don't wanna." But her head falls onto my shoulder.

"This isn't weird right?"

"Oh no. It's totally weird. You're carrying your five year old wife." Hanna answers for me.

"Did you guys pick this shirt out for her?" Mini Emily is wearing one of my favorite Batman shirts. I wear it a lot. But some times Emily borrows it from me when my job takes me out of town.

"No. She picked it out all on her own."

"I guess I should put her in our bed? That would be more comfortable right?" I ask. Emily has always taken care of me when our situations were reversed. I also don't want to screw anything up.

"Paige, relax. Sit on the couch while I get her a pillow and blanket. It'll be easier to keep an eye on her from here since you know Emily is going to want to talk. Or yell." Spencer reasons out. I'm so grateful to have her. She goes into the bedroom while I sit on the couch. Hanna joins me.

"We didn't tell her anything. Well, we did say Big Emily is married to a woman. She thought that was interesting. Also Spencer made her cry." Hanna says.

That was the exact moment Emily came in, dragging our bag behind her. "What?"

"I guess you heard that." Hanna winces as she looks over at Mini Emily. She doesn't wake up. She just hugs me tighter.

Spencer comes back into the living room. Her timing is awful. "Hey, Em."

"What did you do?" Emily's brows are furrowed.

"I may have raised my voice at her when she asked if Hanna and I were married." Spencer is smart enough to act guilty about it.

Emily looks over at the younger version of her in my arms. "I don't remember this."

"Okay. I mean it had to have happened though." Hanna waves between the past and present Emily.

"No, wait. I remember my dad telling me he was loving all the time travel dreams I was having. I remember a dream where I was drawing. There was a really fat cat. And two women and they made me sandwiches. Then an angel picked me up after she smiled at me and I woke up."

"Guys." I call out to them. Emily is disappearing in my arms. Soon like so many times, I'm left holding an empty piece of clothing.

"Aww. She's gone." Hanna pouts.

"It had to happen." Spencer reaches for a piece of paper on the table and shows it to us. "The good news is that your dream actually wasn't a dream."

"Is that a coconut?" I'm not sure what it is I'm supposed to be looking at.

"See! I told you!" Hanna starts laughing.

"It's a cat." Spencer huffs.

"So you're the two women. That's why it felt like I met you guys before." Emily exclaims.

"And the angel?" I ask.

"God, Paige. Don't you know? That was you!" Hanna smacks me on the arm.

"Oh." I think about it. Then I feel my face get red.

"I guess even then I thought you were something amazing. Even though I didn't know what it meant." Emily sits next to me on the couch.

"It's funny. After the first time you visited me I thought you were a dream. Or an angel because no one could be that beautiful. So it makes more sense for me to have thought that about you."

"Aww." Hanna clasps her hands together under her chin.

"Paige, I just remember feeling so safe in that dream. When it was actually you holding me. You make me feel that way everyday. And how many times do I have to tell you, that I think you're beautiful."

"Aww," Hanna says again, but louder this time.

"Come on, Han. Let's give them some alone time." Spencer pulled Hanna up.

"But I didn't get that necklace yet." Hanna pouted.

"You can come back tomorrow." Spencer dragged her towards the door.

"Be sure to come back after lunch. Or mid afternoon. Or the evening. We'll be busy. You know just ring the doorbell first. Because I won't be held responsible for what you walk in on." Emily smirked as she ran her hand along my shoulder.

"Seriously? You guys had the entire weekend together." Hanna scolded.

"There is never enough time with Paige." Emily kissed me.

Spencer got the front door open and got Hanna into the hallway. I pull Emily into my lap. Before the door shuts on Hanna, I heard the blonde cry out, "You can time travel!"

Emily lowers her lips to mine. "Let's get started, shall we?"


	6. Emily and Emily

Hey there, guys. Here's a short one. I wanted to get this out of the way. Kinda like the rules of time travel as per this fic. Also this was a little weird to write. I guess you'll see why.

Also the PLL timeline is hella crazy. I don't really get it. So I'm kinda using the timeline info I find online. This is set before Alison disappears. The scene mentioned in this is from the episode 1.09 The Perfect Storm. No Paily in this one guys. And I guess I make it worse by mentions of Emison.

Don't own PLL or The Time Traveler's Wife.

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><p>August 21, 2008 (Emily is 15 and 15)<p>

_EMILY:_ I'm in my bedroom. With my self. She's here from next week. And we're doing something that makes me nervous. Emily tries to reassure me, but I can tell she's nervous too. She keeps checking the door.

We're going to practice kissing. Emily tells me its no different than when girls kiss each other to prepare for the real thing. She says it roughly, like something is bothering her. I'm dating Ben, so it's not like I've never kissed someone before. And Ben isn't the only person I've kissed. I tell her so.

"Look, could you just forget about Alison?" Emily hisses at me, but she quickly looks away.

But I can't.

Alison and I kissed. It was just the two of us in the library. She was reading from _Great Expectations_. And I told her about my dream where Jenna could see again and she forgave us. She told me that me liking happy endings is one of the things she loves about me. Then she read me a passage.

_I loved her against reason._

I didn't hear the rest of the passage. I was too focused on her lips. And that's when my heart took over my head and I kissed her.

So maybe practicing kissing is a good idea. I want to be ready for the next time. I can show Alison how much I care about her. Isn't kissing a girl different from kissing a guy?

The first kiss Emily and I shared was very chaste. Just a quick peck of the lips to feel each other out. Emily looks at me and I nod. We're going to go again. I kiss her, with more fire this time. But she takes over and I go with it. I moan a little bit. I know what I like. She sucks on my bottom lip. My hand cups her breast. I allow myself a moment to think about how this is the best idea ever.

She moves her mouth to my neck. She moves the strap of my tank top, then presses her lips to my shoulder. I shiver. It feels so good. I think I'll use that move again later. My other hand is her hair, thinking about directing her mouth elsewhere. I can feel her hand on the waistband of my pajama bottoms. It's nothing I haven't done when I've been alone. Technically, I'm still touching myself. And it's just an older version of me, older than me by a week, so it isn't weird. Right? Everyone would do this if they had the chance.

But before we go any further, I hear footsteps outside my door. "Emmy?"

We spring apart, but the doorknob is already turning. Emily has enough time to cover herself with a pillow just as my dad walks into my bedroom.

"Oh." His eyes are wide in surprise as he surveys the scene. He doesn't look disgusted. He just looks embarrassed. He quickly backs out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I hear him walk downstairs.

"Oh my God!" I throw my self a death glare. "That was completely and seriously your fault. You knew he was going to walk in. You should have warned me."

"Just stop." Emily grunts and she sits up in bed.

"No. What is wrong with you? You've been in a bad mood since you got here. And you're taking it out on me. What's the point of having this power if we can't use it to stop embarrassing things like that from happening?"

"Shut up. Don't you think I know that?" Emily yells at me.

"Don't tell me to shut up." I huff. "All you had to do was say-"

"Listen to me. It isn't a power. We can't change things. We've tried." She deflates a little bit. All of the fight has left her. She slowly lies back down and clutches the pillow to her chest like it's the only thing keeping her afloat. "It's- it's like with Jenna."

Last month, Alison said she saw Toby Cavanaugh spying on us at our sleepover. So she decided to get him back by throwing a stink bomb into the garage where he usually hung out. But something went wrong. Alison threw the stink bomb and the garage caught on fire. Toby wasn't hurt, but his step-sister Jenna was. Because of what we did, Jenna was blind. And Toby had to go to a reform school. I started time traveling to that day. I wanted to tell Aria or warn Jenna, but I couldn't. The words never came out. It was like I was in the audience and I couldn't stop what was happening on the screen. It always played out the same way.

"There are things we can't change. We can't change the future. This already happened to me. It's in the past. I tried to stop it. But it happened just as it did before."

"That shouldn't stop us from trying!"

"Believe me, it doesn't stop me. But it will always happen. You'll see when you do the same things I did last week. Next week for you, I mean." She looks away.

"This sucks." I sit on the bed. She joins me. "Could you put some clothes on now?"

"Fine. As bad as this was, at least it wasn't Mom." Emily stands up.

"Don't even joke about that." I throw a pillow at her. She knows to dodge it, and steps out of the way. "I think I would have actually died on the spot."

Emily picks up some running shorts and a shirt I won't really miss. As she gets dressed, she talks. "You know I was talking to a self from 2016 about it."

"And what did she say?" As far as I can tell, something happens. Something big. The future selves that have gone through this event are always so tight lipped. So me and Emily from next week are on the same side. But I wonder though, I've yet to meet a self from the rest of high school and I wonder why.

"I guess you'll find out for yourself pretty soon. She was... a bit weird about it. That we can't change the bad things because then we'd miss out on the good things. And that the only things we could change were the choices we made in the present." Emily shrugs.

"What about our decisions we make when we go to the future?" I ask.

"Well, it's like if you go to the future and you come back, going to the future is in your past." She explains. "The example she used was _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. A stable time loop."

That's my favorite Harry Potter book. I've read it at least three times, so I know it inside and out. I know what she means.

"Whatever I go back and do in the past, I've always gone back and done in the past? 2016 Emily sucks. Looking forward to being her." I sigh as I cover my face with my hands.

"Right? I agree. She knows something that we don't. But we have to go with it. Or we make it worse."

That's a pretty heavy warning.

"So what happens next?" I ask.

"You know I can't answer that." She manages to keep a straight face, but then grins.

I hit her with my pillow, which she blocks. "Don't you start."

We both start laughing. And I imagine this might be what it's like to have a sister. I certainly argue with them like a sister, probably not to the extent that Spencer and Melissa do. When I was little, I had so much fun on my trips with Emily. She taught me how to pick locks and how to pick pockets. I thought of her as a big sister, and that I wasn't the only time traveler.

But she told me the truth when I was nine. There were no other time travelers. She was me and I would be her.

I sigh. "How was I?"

"Hmm?"

"The kiss. Did you like it?" I ask.

"It was nice." Emily says.

"Was I that bad?" I bite my lip.

"No! You were great. Just what I needed." Emily smiles, and I wonder about it. Hanna has told me she can tell when I'm sad even if I'm trying to hide it. It's because my smile doesn't shine as bright. That's the smile on my self's face right now. I already know when my selves don't want to tell me something. Or they can't tell me something.

I don't push the issue.

She studies me. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" I get off the bed.

"Downstairs to talk to Dad." She gets behind me and pushes me towards the door.

"What? No!" I don't think I could look him in the eye right now.

"Yes. Because if I had to, you have to." Emily gets me out into the hallway.

Even though she's right, I still hate it. We walk downstairs. Emily nods towards the kitchen. I go in first.

"Dad?" I call out nervously. I don't want to surprise him again. Also, I don't know what's going to happen.

He has the bread out, along with the jars of peanut butter and grape jelly. He made a bunch of sandwiches.

"Emily."

He used my name, not Emmy. That can't be good. I hang my head. I just don't want him to hate me or be disappointed in me. I think it would be better if he yelled. But I have never heard him raise his voice in anger.

"Hey," he starts off gently. "Look, I'm not mad. I was just caught off guard. That's just what I want to say right now. What you were doing was uh, natural. At your age, you have urges and your situation is different."

He glances at her. I feel my face start to burn. Maybe this is worse than him not talking to me. Yelling would be better. This is the most awkward conversation ever. "Dad, stop."

"Okay." His face looks as red as I feel. "I just… don't want you to ever feel ashamed about yourself. Um, I made sandwiches. Your favorite."

Peanut butter and jelly always cheers me up. Ever since I was little. Emily and I sit at the table. "Thanks, Dad."

"I'm just going to go to my room. I don't want to mess up the timeline or anything by learning about stuff I shouldn't." My dad laughs. He turns to leave, but stops. "And I promise to remember to knock in the future."

My face gets red again.


	7. The Scar

Hey guys! I wanted to get this out before I went on my trip. But I failed on that and I'm post this from my iPad. Sorry that it's short. Hope you enjoy.

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><p>April 8, 2001 (Emily is 36, Paige is 7)<p>

_PAIGE_: "Do you like pizza?" I ask Emily. Today was one of the dates that she told me to write down. Last night, we had pizza for dinner and there was some slices left over. And Emily said time traveling makes her hungry. I like pizza, so I hope Emily likes pizza. I hope Emily likes me.

"I love pizza." Emily smiles at me and I feel fuzzy in my tummy. I'm happy.

"Um, it's peproni and mushroom. Is that okay?" I ask. I like peproni and mushroom pizza. But sometimes we get pizza all the way from Hawaii. That kind has pineapple on it. My mommy and me like the pineapple but my daddy doesn't. He grumbles about it, but smiles when he gives mommy his pineapple so she gets more. So then my mommy smiles. I guess that's what being married is. Sharing stuff and being best friends. Mommy says daddy is her best friend.

"Pepperoni and mushroom just happens to be my favorite kind of pizza." Emily laughs.

"Mine too!" I gasp. "It's like the best kind."

_EMILY: _I study Paige. The girl is being sincere about liking pepperoni and mushroom. Which I find weird because whenever Paige and I order pizza, she gives me her mushrooms. She told me she hated mushrooms. It's something small, her telling me she doesn't like mushrooms and then giving hers to me. But that's just how Paige is.

"Well then we have great taste." I take a slice of pizza from the tupperware she offers me. She beams up at me, proud of herself for doing well.

"How is school?" I ask her.

Her face lights up. "Good. I got a perfect on my spelling test. And we are learning about the human body in science!"

"A perfect score! Awesome. Up top!" I give her a high five. "And if you have any questions about the human body, I can teach you."

"Is that your job? Are you a teacher?" Paige asks. She's always trying to learn more about me. Most of the time I don't give too much away. But for now I can give her an answer.

"No. I help people when they get sick." I tell her.

"Are you a doctor?" Paige gets excited. "My mama is a nurse."

When I was younger, there was a lot of things I wanted to be. But I learned that my time traveling would affect any job I had. And any kind of schooling I had to do. My job had to be one where I could make my own hours. I couldn't risk disappearing in the middle of an operation or out from in front of my students.

"I'm a physical therapist. I work with doctors and nurses to make people feel better." I explain briefly. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I don't know yet." Paige bites her bottom lip.

"That's fine. You don't have to choose right away." I finish eating the slice of pizza.

"Can I ask you a question?" Paige cocks her head to the side.

"Sure." I take a bite of my slice of pizza.

"Did that hurt?" She's pointing at the scar on my shoulder.

I chew the pizza, using it as an excuse to buy time I can use to think of what to tell her. It's a gift from A. Usually it's covered up by the sleeves of my shirt. But Paige has brought me a black sleeveless button up blouse to wear. Of course, she would be curious as to what happened. It's nice to know that Paige has always been a protective and concerned person.

"It did. But not so much anymore. It happened a long time ago."

"I fell off my bike." Paige says. I close my eyes and try not to think of the rainy night she comes to my house to apologize. Paige ended up hurting herself that night. And I know know that it could have been much more serious.

"I scraped my knee." Her words pull me out of my thoughts. She's rolled up her pant legs to show me a bandage.

"Oh no. You should be more careful." I chide Paige. I wish I could take her up in my arms and just protect her from everything that can hurt her. Alison. A. Me. But I can't do that. All of that helps Paige in the end. It makes her stronger.

She rolls her eyes. "Thanks, Mom." But when she sees that I'm still frowning, she pats my knee. "I promise to try to be more careful. I just like going fast."

I laugh. I know that Paige will try to be more careful. But she isn't always successful. My fingers go to my chin where I have a small scar. You would hardly notice it, unless you knew it was there.

Paige notices the movement. She gets in real close. "What's that?"

"A scar. Hideous, right?" I joke.

She looks at me like I'm crazy. "Did you fall off your bike too? You really should be more careful." Paige turns my words back on me with a grin.

I scoff. "I fell but not off my bike."

Paige peers at my face. "You didn't have that last time."

"How could you be so sure?" I test her.

"I don't know."

I do. Paige confessed to thinking about me a lot whenever I visited her. That I was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. That my face was an image burned into her brain. So, it's no wonder she would notice something like that.

"Sometimes you have it. And sometimes you don't. How old are you?"

"I'm 36. Maybe now you have a way to tell me apart."

"I guess."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie."

May 7, 2001 (Emily is 26, Paige is 7)

_EMILY_: I wince as I find myself kneeling in the grass. Ugh, I was right in the middle of talking to Spencer and Hanna. They were going to buy me breakfast to make last night up to me. I'm starving.

I go to where Paige keeps the clothes. She's left me a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt. There is also some flip flops. I'm glad the day isn't too warm.

"Paige?" I try. I'm not sure what day it is, but based on the green leaves on the tree it's probably summer. And it must be mid-morning based on the sun's position in the sky.

"Emily!" Paige's voice is filled with laughter and amusement.

I look up.

Paige is sitting on a tree branch far above my head. My heart stops.

"You get down from here this minute!" I shriek.

"It's okay. I've done this so many times. I can go higher." Paige yells. She reaches for a branch. I hear a snap.

There is screaming and I realize that the inhuman noise is coming from my throat. I move below Paige. But she is falling.

She lands on top of me. I groan.

"Are you okay?" Paige asks me. "You're bleeding."

I bring a hand to my chin. It's slick with blood. "That's fine. I'm more worried about you."

"I'm okay." There are unshed tears in her eyes. She is clutching her arm to her chest.

Paige told me she that she fell out of a tree when she was seven and broke her arm. She had to get a cast. "Your arm is broken."

I wish I could splint it or do something for her. But her parents would wonder who did that.

"It's my fault." Paige sniffles. She sounds so pitiful and small.

"What is?" I ask her as I pick her up carefully, making sure to watch out for her arm.

"Your scar. I asked you how you got it and you said you fell. But it's my fault." She's crying now.

"Paige, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you didn't get seriously hurt." It sounds dumb since she broke her arm. But in the time it took her to fall I just thought the worst. That she would fall on her head and end up in a wheelchair or in a coma. Or dead. That my older selves were full of shit and time was changing. That this had to be what happened when you tried to change things.

I sound like an asshole, but I am relieved that it's just a broken arm.

"Let's get you home. Your mom and dad need to take you to the hospital."

"What's going to happen?"

"To your arm? They're going to give you a cast." I tell her as I walk across the yard.

"Aww. But I thought I was going to get a cool robot arm."

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"Not so much. A little. Maybe because you're here." Paige is biting down so hard on her lip.

"Paige, if it hurts you can cry."

"I'm not a baby." Paige shudders in my arms.

"I know you're not. You're so brave. Crying doesn't mean that you aren't." I tell her. "I cry. I cry when I'm happy. I cry when I'm sad. And I cry when I'm afraid."

If it were any other situation, I would barely step foot on the property, but now I'm already climbing up their back deck. Getting caught by her parents is worth the risk if it means I can get Paige help sooner. I set her on the ground and crouch down in front of her so I'm on her eye level. Her lip is bleeding now from where she bit down on it. I was afraid that I lost her before I ever found her.

"Go and find your parents." I say and I hope she doesn't hear the shudder in it.

"I'm sorry I scared you." Paige puts her hand on my cheek to. That's when I realize that I've been crying. I wipe my eye.

"I was scared. But now I'm happy because you'll be okay." I smile at her. "Now go find your parents."

"Bye, Emily." Paige says before running into her house. I can hear her calling for her mother. That's smart. Not only is Beth McCullers a nurse, she has a more level head than Nick. I can hear the man yelling in panic now and I can picture him running around the room looking for the car keys that are already his hands. I wait for the sound of their car starting and driving away before I start walking to my parents' house.


End file.
